Appalachian Adventure - Jim Hill - Bog

In 1973, on a ten day hike in the beautiful Shenandoah Mountains, I camped one night with two enthusiastic Appalachian Trail thru-hikers. They were generous enough to share some of their adventures with me. It sounded fun. At that moment I decided to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. Thirty-six years later, having recently retired, my dream became a reality. I didn't see this as a life changing event. I just wanted to have fun, and did I ever! I found that I really enjoyed hiking - just putting one foot in front of the other. It took me through forests covered with blooming rhododendron, by blueberry bushes with warm, plump, delicious blueberries, to the top of mountains with views that seemed to go on forever, and across rivers where I felt like Rambo, gripping hand over hand on an overhead rope. It left me in absolutely top physical condition. It let me make friends with hikers of all ages as we backpacked 2,178 miles through fourteen states from Georgia to Maine. It left me with memories that will last a lifetime - watching a gorgeous sunset and the sky come alive with stars while camped on Cheoah Bald, being five feet from a large, smelly bear who was trying to take my food, my feet dangling over the edge of McAfee Knob as I watched a dazzling sunrise, seeing eyes sparkling like diamonds as they reflected the light of my headlamp on a night hike, getting battered by fierce weather on Mt. Washington, solving the fun puzzle that was the boulder filled Mahoosuc Notch, almost getting stomped by a moose, enjoying the beauty and tranquility of the Hundred-Mile Wilderness, and finishing atop awesome Mt. Katahdin with my brother. Hiking the Appalachian Trail turned out to be one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. Have you ever taken a trip, had high expectations for it, and have it far exceed those expectations? That would be the best way to describe my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. Wow! What an adventure!